Stormer's Journal
by flutterrosedaily
Summary: Life isn't always easy being a member of one of music's biggest groups, but Mary "Stormer" Phillips is ready to share her true feelings and experiences in her beloved journal.
1. Chapter 1

I've started this journal to document my day to day life in the fast moving world of stardom. That sounds super cheese, like something a middle schooler would write, which is made worse by the fact I'm 20 years old. I'm Mary Phillips, the keyboard player for The Misfits, better known under my stage name, Stormer.

Across the world, young and even elder fans alike would die at the chance to be a Misfit. They are constantly in awe of us, like we are the holy prophets, looking down upon our fans with a sense of pride. Except that's not the truth, of course. "Peasants!" is what Roxy proclaims our fans to be, or "Mere mortals" is Pizzazz's preferred terminology. Plus, no matter what the other three girls believe them self to be, we are just four ordinary young women, catapulted to stardom thanks to the hefty wallet of Mr Gabor. Still, I digress...

That's actually another reason why I started this journal. The other Misfits are too much to handle sometimes. Actually, scratch that, the majority of the time would be more accurate. Jetta's constantly moaning about the States, disgustedly comparing US delicacies to her beloved fish and chips in "good ol' Blighty".  
She has little respect for our culture in general, to be honest. I remember when The Misfits visited The Whitehouse to give an impromptu performance of our number "Star Spangled Fantasy". Obviously this was my take (I wrote the lyrics, of course!) on the American national anthem. Jetta didn't even want to partake, remarking that the Star-Spangled Banner "hasn't got nothin'!" on God Save the Queen. Despite this, once Pizzazz explained that the President himself would be witnessing our performance, she eventually decided she would perform.  
Honestly, if it wasn't for the fact that she can cause a major scandal in an instant, I think Pizzazz would have made sure she deported back to the UK months ago. (Flashback to the time she stole Kimber's journal and sent it to the editors of Cool Trash magazine to be published, I can only pray that never happens to my journal...).  
Pizzazz still remains her bratty and irritable self. We had a meeting last week with our manager, Eric Raymond. When he proceeded to tell us our newest album, entitled "Gone Wild!" hadn't met sale expectations, she screamed so loudly that I swear the walls began to shake! Roxy, Jetta and I watched her intently, half with concern and half with amazement, as Pizzazz began to turn as red as a chilli pepper. She reached down, removed her right stiletto and launched it at full pelt ,narrowly missing Eric's face by inches. Jetta could barely stifle her laughter and I heard Roxy let out a snigger. "YOU BETTER SORT THIS OUT ERIC, OR I'LL MAKE SURE DADDY GETS TO DEAL WITH YOU!" Pizzazz yelled spitefully. "You know, Pizzazz ,I seem to recall it was _YOU_ who delayed our recording sessions by several hours each day. Same as it was _YOU_ who fired the sound guy, just because you were being greedy in your position of authority!" Eric remarked fairly calmly. Pizzazz ignored what he said, as usual, proceeding to yell regardless. Honestly, I don't know what she expected, when she forced me to write songs with titles such as "Revenge of the Sins" and "Crush You Down". Hardly matches the wholesome goodness of the Holograms songs from their latest hit album, with titles such as "Lovin' You Until the End of Time" and "Forever Faithful".  
Meanwhile, Roxy's brash and abusive attitude is getting progressively worse and worse. She very nearly got arrested today. Roxy, Jetta, Pizzazz and I were passing Starlight House, where Jerrica Benton and her sisters care for orphaned girls. It was a warm and benevolent day, and the Starlight Girls were out playing volleyball on the front lawn. "Ugh. C'mon girls, move it, before I gag all over this "bonding" bore fest" spat Pizzazz, a look of disgust on her face. Unfortunately, this is when Roxy noticed a certain Starlight girl. Ashley.

One day, a couple years back now, before Jetta joined us, Ashley ran away from Starlight House. She tried to get into a club The Misfits were performing at. She repeatedly insisted she was friends of ours (untrue, we barely even knew of her, other than the fact she was one of the girls under Jerrica's care) but the guard still refused her entry. Pizzazz managed to overhear this conversation and, thinking of only herself, as usual, she decided to allow Ashley in to use her for her own benefit. Roxy went along with it, as did I initially, although very reluctantly. Pizzazz and Roxy treated her like a slave, while I shied away on the sidelines, a deep pang of guilt eating away at me. Back then, I was too weak and afraid to stand up for myself in front of Pizzazz. I just conformed and agreed with everything she said, constantly worrying that I'd be kicked out of the band.  
A few hours later, The Misfits were due to perform. Cruelly, despite all of Ashley's hard work and perseverance, Pizzazz and Roxy locked her in a chest so she couldn't come out during our performance. Absolutely disgusting! I knew I had to do something, even if it meant facing the wrath of Pizzazz. When the other two girls left, I hung back. I unlatched the rusting lock on the battered chest. "Shh. It's Stormer, Ashley" I whispered. I had great intentions of freeing her. Unluckily, I hadn't realised Pizzazz and Roxy had come back. "I knew you'd gone soft!" scoffed Pizzazz. "You're either with us or against us" "I'm sorry, Ashley" I regretted. I desperately wanted to free her but I had no choice. It was heartbreaking forcing myself to walk away, as she screamed my name in vain.  
However, the next day, we managed to get to know each other better. Pizzazz tried to frame Jem for a crime she didn't commit, the police even arrested her! However Ashley and I knew this was wrong, and anonymously, we told the police the truth and Jem was rightly freed. To this day, Pizzazz still doesn't know it was Ashley and I who foiled her plan.

So, as you can probably tell, I have quite a soft spot for Ashley, even though I haven't spoken to her since.  
When Roxy spotted and began to approach Ashley, I knew this was going to end terribly.  
"Well if it isn't that chump who tried to help us sabotage the Holograms!" marvelled Roxy. "Allie, wasn't it?"  
"Ashley" I quickly corrected her.  
"Of course you'd remember that. You let her fawn all over you like a lost puppy." Pizzazz rolled her eyes spectacularly. "She was just a kid yet you didn't even develop a backbone. You let her push you around!"  
"I did not!" I protested angrily. "YOU and Roxy were the ones treating her like scum.

Locking her inside a chest! That's child abuse!" I fumed.  
"Bloody hell, it's all going down over 'ere!" Jetta mused excitedly.  
Pizzazz smirked at Jetta, before diverting her attention away from me and back to Roxy, who was now grabbing on the railings outside Starlight House. She peered inwards with suspicious intent in her eyes.  
"Come here, kid! Yeah, I mean you Ashley, you little brat!"  
"Oh no" I thought, my heart sinking internally.  
Ashley, who had just hit the ball to the opposite side of the volleyball net, turned towards us. A look of surprise took over her face before quickly being replaced by sudden fear.  
"I said, COME HERE!" yelled Roxy.  
"Roxy, just leave her alone!" I fumed, but Roxy paid no attention to me.  
Silence fell over the volleyball court as the Starlight Girls were looking at each other worried and confused. Krissie was the first to react. "I'll go and get Jerrica!" she proclaimed, running towards the door to Starlight House. "Wait for me!" exclaimed Terri, quickly following behind her.  
"Pfft, and what's she gonna do?" Roxy laughed, raising an eyebrow.  
Ashley then began to walk over slowly towards the fence, where Roxy stood behind.  
"Jerrica is a better person than you'll ever be" remarked Ashley. "She is a selfless and kind person; all you ever did was use me!"  
"Oh, Jerrica this, Jerrica _THAT_! She's no sweetheart" Roxy spat.  
"Yeah, she's got no class!" added Pizzazz.  
"No class? She doesn't get involved in drama yet still manages to care for us, and manage Starlight Music. All you guys do is cause fights and make terrible music!" yelled Ashley.  
Roxy launched both her hands through the fence, grabbing Ashley's throat. Her long and pointy lime green dug furiously into Ashley's neck.  
Ashley let out a small yell, desperately trying to struggle away from Roxy hands clasped around her neck.  
It was at this exact moment when Krissie and Terri made their return, fronted by Jerrica. The trio ran towards Ashley, and Jerrica looked beyond shocked. She quickly pulled Roxy's hands off Ashley, then kneeled down to her level.  
"Ashley" said Jerrica, her voice shaking. "Are you ok?"  
Ashley nodded, trembling. She looked like she was going to cry.  
"Girls, get inside, all of you. Quick!" commanded Jerrica.  
The Starlight Girls immediately obliged and ran inside. Krissie and Terri wrapped their arms around Ashley.  
When she was certain every girl had got inside, Jerrica turned back to Roxy. She looked absolutely _livid_.  
"WHAT do you think you're playing at!" she yelled, immensely angry. "How dare you even lay hands on one of my innocent girls. You were basically strangling her, she could have _died_!"  
"More's the pity" smirked Roxy sarcastically, and Pizzazz laughed.  
"Your behaviour is abhorrent and immature" fumed Jerrica.

"I ought to call the police and get you arrested for child abuse,Roxy"  
"Well, you can try..." began Jetta.  
"But as our hit song says..." continued Pizzazz.  
"You can't catch me!" yelled Roxy, and they all ran off giggling.  
I stopped for a moment, mouthing "I'm sorry" directly to Jerrica.  
Jerrica sighed "Stormer, you really need to get away from those girls. You're welcome here anytime, I'm sure Kimber would be thrilled to see you".  
It was true. You see, one time I actually did leave The Misfits, and Kimber left the Holograms. We were both fed up of the way our bands were treating us, and together we became a musical duo. We only released a single EP, "Back to Back" with the song "I'm Okay", but it actually went double platinum. Sometimes I wish we were still together.  
"It's...it's just difficult" I murmured, looking down towards the ground with a guilty expression.  
Jerrica shook her head sadly and I ran off, on pursuit of the other Misfits.

Now I'm finally home. It's only 10pm but I'm heading to bed already, tomorrow is a busy day. The Misfits have a concert tomorrow in California, so we will need to leave pretty early. We also need to fit in rehearsal time, and boy, do some of us need it...  
Until tomorrow...  
Stormer.


	2. Chapter 2

Last night, I dreamt of waking up. Surely that's some kind of meta universe type dream? Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable dream, of something I crave immensely but cannot possibly have. At least, not while I'm still in the public eye.

In my dream ,I was in a small and quaint cottage situated in the countryside. I was awoken by the sunlight softly glowing through the window, and birds which fluttered intently behind it, singing their sweet song. As I slowly succumbed to the new morning, leaving a night of peaceful rest behind, I rose out of my bed and began to straighten out the sheets.  
The waft of bacon and eggs began to drift to my room, and I skipped merrily out of my room, quickly being greeted by my pet cat Mollie.  
By this point I had reached the kitchen, ready to tuck into my breakfast...and then I woke up. Gutted. What a mirage.  
The whole dream was very Cinderella-esque, don't you think? (Well, maybe except the prepared breakfast!). In fact, I can relate to Cinderella in many ways. I used to feel trapped off from socialisation and like nobody cared about me before I joined The Misfits. You see, when I was about to start high school, my best friend Alice moved away. We were basically inseparable, we went round each other's houses almost everyday, and we always worked together during classes at school. She had all the qualities you would want in a best friend - kind, gentle, caring and supportive. Alice was also one of the funniest people I knew. It's near impossible to look back on any of our hijinks together without cracking a smile, like the time she insisted on cooking us lunch. Unluckily for her, she wasn't very talented in the cooking department, and we ended up with charcoaled French fries and fried eggs that stayed permanently fried to the surface of the frying pan. I think she had to throw out the pan in the end. Needless to say, her parents weren't best pleased, but we found it hilarious.

Anyway, she moved away just before the first year of high school, so I had to face it alone. I was very shy and nervous, and making friends was definitely something I wasn't good at. Hence the reason why I spent the half of the first school year alone! Well, until that fateful Music lesson.

My Music teacher requested that we get in to groups "or partners, at least" to create a song together that would be used as an assessment to count as part of our grade. When she said these words I felt my heart sink - what was I going to do? I had no friends, and I was going to flunk my favourite subject. Great.  
Suddenly,I heard a loud voice behind me. "Mary! Come with us!". I turned around sharply, shocked somebody had actually spoken to me! It was Phyllis. Phyllis Gabor, better known as Pizzazz.

Even back then, Pizzazz had a reputation. She was a bully, spoilt and always taking advantage of people for her own good. Some things don't change! She hung around with a group of boys, you know, the rough and rebel type. The type who bunked classes more than they attended them, and swagged around in their "gangster" gear, sneaking a cigarette wherever possible. I kept well away from all of them, including Pizzazz, because I didn't need that type of bad influence in my life. However, the thought of having somebody who I possibly class as a friend was tempting me otherwise...

So, I took Pizzazz up on her offer and joined her and her cronies on this Music assignment. I knew Pizzazz had a strong and powerful voice, and I was an "upcoming talent" (as my Music tutor outside of school declared me) on the keyboard, so I knew we had a decent shot at a good grade.  
I began to play a simple and sweet melody on the keyboard, unsure what direction our musical piece was going to go into. This was quickly realised when Pizzazz demanded I "pick up the pace and add some attitude!". I started to play a faster melody with some harsher notes, and Pizzazz smiled with approval. Pizzazz suddenly produced a sheaf of papers from her black leather spiked handbag. Even though she was standing a few feet away, I could catch a slight glimpse, and I could recognise some music notes and see some lyrics.  
"Did...did you write those yourself?" I stammered shyly.  
"Me?" Pizzazz laughed. "No way, Mary. My daddy works with the best songwriters in the biz, they write tons of songs for me, daddy pays them to."  
"Really? Wow, how lucky you must be" I replied.  
"Pfft, I don't need luck, just a wallet full of cash" Pizzazz remarked dismissively. "Daddy would only get the BEST for his little princess..."  
"Oh...right!" I replied, not really knowing how to respond without saying something I'd regret. "I just wondered if you wrote your own song lyrics, like I do. I really hope to be a pianist and songwriter when I'm older".  
"You write?" said Pizzazz, raising an eyebrow. "Let's see some song lyrics then, I'm intrigued..."  
"Oh, um, sure" I responded, slightly taken aback and nervous that she wanted to see them, knowing I'd be absolutely humiliated if she didn't like them.  
I reached into my knapsack and pulled out a bird print adorned notebook, proceeded to flick through until I came across the latest song I'd written, titled "Eclipse of Emotions". It was based around my emotional state after Alice leaving, as well as normal teenage stresses and school.  
Pizzazz pushed past one of her group, loudly insisting they get "Outta my way!" before leaning over my shoulder to read the lyrics. I saw her eyes glazing over the chorus, which read:  
"It's an eclipse of emotions, now I'm going through the motions,  
I wish life was like an ocean, calmly swimming by,  
Instead it's more like a tornado, spinning in my mind,  
There's no chance to escape, even if there was,  
It is too late. The damage is done and life's no longer great."  
The lyrics sound like the ultimate embarrassment to me now looking back on them, but I was so proud of them at the time. Pizzazz had been looking at the lyrics with a wary approach, but now she was actually (slightly) smiling!  
"These aren't half bad, Mary." Pizzazz said in a surprised tone of voice. "You know..." she began to say, her voice drifting off.  
"What?" I persisted,desperately wanting to know.  
"We could become a music duo, you and I" she noted. "I want to become a singer,and you want to be a pianist. Of course, you're capable of writing the songs too,so...how about it! This could be my, sorry, OUR big shot!"  
Initially, I was stunned. We had barely spoken before until today and now suddenly she wanted us to become a musical duo? Everything was moving so fast and I really wasn't sure if I was ready. Still, I was so elated that I had somebody's approval, that I made my decision almost instantly.

So, there we were. Me and Pizzazz, as a duo. Pizzazz insisted on stage names, as she said "Phyllis & Mary" sounded like a name of a seventies sitcom. I suppose it wouldn't have been the most exciting name, so I allowed Pizzazz to choose me a stage name. She chose Stormer, because she said "Once an audience hear you play, they will be up in a storm!". I remember how that comment made me blush, with pride more than anything else. I can't say I can recall many moments where Pizzazz genuinely complimented me...

We desperately wanted to tour around the US, believing we would become instantly famous and people would be queuing up for miles to catch us perform. Obviously, we were a bit delusional then! Let alone the fact that there's no such thing as an overnight success (although, as you may know, with the money of Harvey Gabor, virtually anything is possible!) but we were still teenagers in full time education. There's no way we could have toured!

At least, that's what we thought.

Well, it wasn't exactly the "US Tour" we dreamed of, but as summer vacation approached just a few months later, Pizzazz's father offered us a proposition.  
"How would you girls like to perform a gig in Philadelphia? A business associate of mine runs a summer music festival, and he is looking for some young, talented musicians..." Mr Gabor explained.  
He didn't need to ask us twice. I think the pitch of Pizzazz's scream said it all.

After two weeks of intense rehearsals, tantrums (Pizzazz) and a near mental breakdown (me), we finally hit the road to make the trip to Philly.  
Pizzazz was hoping her father would drive us but Mr Gabor was adamant that he couldn't come as he had lots of important business inquiries to tend to. Pizzazz attempted to disguise her disappointment but I could tell she was broken inside. I do feel sorry for Pizzazz actually, in a way. She's an only child, her mother left her when she was very young and she didn't keep in contact, whereas her father never seemed to have the time for her. I've always been close to my family, especially my older brother, Craig, and it was hard for me to imagine what it would be like to grow up without those close family bonds. Pizzazz seemed to cheer up slightly though, when I reminded her that we were about to perform our first gig,in front of an audience bigger than our Music class. It still seemed so surreal! I had to keep reminding myself, are we really doing this?

An hour or so later, we arrived at our venue, thanks to a driver Mr Gabor hired. It was still fairly early in the morning, as we needed time to set up before the festival began.  
A middle aged man hurried towards us, announcing himself as Robert, the organiser of the festival. He wore large spectacles, and when the sun beamed down, his eyes were barely visible from the sun reflecting off the lenses. "Very nice to meet you all!" he spoke briskly, quickly shaking both our hands (Pizzazz wasn't too impressed). Robert seemed like a genuinely nice man, but it was clear he was rushed and feeling stressed about the festival, so he didn't spend too much time with us. "If you girls go backstage, you can set up your instruments and meet some of the other acts" he said, ushering towards the stage. "Ok, thank you" I smiled, before breaking off into a sprint after Pizzazz, who was already making her way to the stage.

When we slipped through the curtains to the back of the stage, we were immediately greeted by the site of several musicians our own age. Some looked young and innocent, whereas some looked older beyond their years. Some were dressed modestly while others took an edgier style, such as a group of male punk rockers. One girl stood out, though. She had long, white hair which was backcombed and teased out. Her earlobes were studded with a whole line of earrings, and her arms were adorned with spiked bracelets in black, silver and gold. Her outfit was outrageous, an orange leather jacket teamed with a ripped zebra print shirt, black leather shorts, fishnet tights and white five inch heels. I remembered thinking there was no way my father would let me leave the house like that!  
Pizzazz and I were awestruck by her, but perhaps not for the same reason.

"I'm digging your look, kid" Pizzazz said admiringly to the white haired wonder.  
"Don't call me kid" spat the girl.  
"A girl with some attitude, now that's what I like to see" smiled Pizzazz sinisterly."What's your name?"  
"Roxanne. Roxanne Pelligrini" Roxanne answered rather bluntly in a disinterested tone. "And you are?"  
"I'm Pizzazz, and this is my musical partner, Stormer." Pizzazz announced proudly.  
"Those are your real names? PIZZAZZ and STORMER?" Roxanne raised an eyebrow.  
"Well, no, those are our stage names. My real name is Phyllis, but don't EVER call me that" said Pizzazz, giving Roxanne a dirty look.  
Roxanne finally showed some emotion and let out a small laugh.  
"Alright, Pizzazz, consider it done." Roxanne replied. "How about you, Stormer girl?" she said looking directly at me. "You don't say much, do you?"  
"Well, I, uh..." I began.  
"Spit it out!" insisted Roxanne.  
"My real name is Mary." I finally managed to say.  
"She may seem quiet now but she doesn't half create a storm when she performs" Pizzazz quickly interjected.  
"Mhm" responded Roxanne, not seeming convinced. "What instruments do you play then?"  
"I don't play instruments" laughed Pizzazz. "I provide lead vocals".  
"I play the keyboard though." I said before I could stop myself.  
Roxanne nodded approvingly "Decent".  
"I assume you play the guitar" Pizzazz observed, as Roxanne was now holding a white electric guitar which had been leaning against a table.  
"Of course" agreed Roxanne. "She's been my pride and joy for the past few years. You should listen to this baby go".  
Suddenly, Roxanne broke into an incredible guitar solo. She was advancing through several different chords and her timing was perfect. When she stopped, Pizzazz and I looked at each other in shock.  
"That was..." began Pizzazz  
"Amazing!" I marvelled.  
Roxanne smirked at us "You'll hear more of that later. Let's hear you guys then!".  
"You'll hear more of that later" retorted Pizzazz, as Roxanne smiled at her teasing.  
As we carried on chatting, we found out more about Roxanne. She was 16 and a high school dropout, who taught herself to play the electric guitar. That was when she wasn't hanging round with fellow high school dropouts, who called themselves the Red Aces. She even went out with one of them, Link, for a while, although she insisted it was just a fling as she wanted to concentrate on her music. Honestly, I wasn't sure what to think of her. She was a great musician, but I didn't feel comfortable about her lifestyle. Meanwhile, Pizzazz was the total opposite. She immediately related to her, as they both hung around with "bad boys" and both of them had attitude. They instantly hit off, yet Roxanne and I were worlds apart.

Roxanne was the first musician to perform, and Pizzazz and I were second. Just as she did to us backstage, Roxanne blew the crowd away with her guitar solo, ending to hundreds of rounds of applause and some whistling.  
She returned backstage looking like the cat that got the cream. "Let's see if you two can top that!" remarked Roxanne, with a glint in her eye.  
"Don't underestimate us" Pizzazz smiled wickedly. Our names were then called and we headed towards the stage.

We performed the song I wrote, the first one Pizzazz saw, Eclipse of Emotions. I poured my heart into my keyboard playing, as the song held so much personal emotion to me, and I think that really showed through in my performance. As always, Pizzazz's strong and powerful voice wowed the crowd. We, too, were met with thunderous applause and cheers.  
Returning backstage, Roxanne was applauding for us personally. "That was EPIC!" she cheered. "No wonder you made me wait to hear you two!".  
"Thanks" I smiled, embarrassed.  
"You know, I bet we could make an extraordinary sound as trio." Pizzazz wondered out loud. "Why don't you join us, Roxanne?"

"What!" Roxanne and I exclaimed in unison.  
"Well, just think about it!" Pizzazz started. "Roxanne isn't up to much here in little old Philly, especially as she dropped out of high school. At 16,she can legally move out,so she could easily come to our town!"  
"I do desperately want to leave home" admitted Roxanne. "I don't get on with my parents, they have a, like, vendetta over me" she rolled her eyes.  
"See! This is the perfect opportunity!" Pizzazz exclaimed.  
"Let's do it!" Roxanne burst out excitedly.  
"If it's ok with Stormer, that is..." Pizzazz spoke slowly, as they both turned towards me.  
What could I do? I could already feel myself becoming a third wheel, but I didn't want to cause a disagreement, especially as Roxanne was so eager.  
"Sure" I sighed reluctantly.

And that pretty much sums up how my life, and my music quickly changed direction. With Roxanne with us, Pizzazz demanded I wrote more harsh, rock style songs. Pizzazz also insisted Roxanne went by Roxy instead, as it sounded more appropriate for a rock band. They came up with a name for our band, The Misfits, and that was that.  
Of course, Jetta joined us a few years later. That was actually unintentionally caused by me, but that's a whole other story. I've already gone off on such a large tangent as it is, and the morning is flying by.  
I need to get to rehearsals pronto!  
Speak to you tomorrow  
Stormer. 


	3. Chapter 3

That's one concert I won't forget in a hurry, that's for sure. I better start from the beginning, back to when I arrived at rehearsals.

I was the first Misfit there, which was pretty usual. Jetta usually arrives about 15 minutes after me, followed by Roxy, then finally Pizzazz, for whom it's commonplace to be an hour or so late.  
This pattern proved to be true yet again yesterday as Roxy, Jetta and I had been sitting in the rehearsal room for the best part of an hour. Jetta was doodling on Roxy's arm with a biro out of pure boredom, while Roxy giggled at the ticklish feel of the pen. It was actually rather refreshing to see them not bickering with each other for once. Roxy never wanted Jetta to join The Misfits, and was always trying to call her bluff. Jetta always claimed to have connections with the Royal Family, which Roxy was having none of. When the opportunity arose, Roxy and Pizzazz went to visit Jetta's "home" in England (I went to see my brother play with his band in London). Sure enough, Roxy was right and Jetta had been lying. The mansion she claimed as hers wasn't even her home, it was a family friend's they had borrowed! Roxy was feeling smug about being right for weeks. This just encouraged Jetta to insult Roxy and the US in general even more than usual, so seeing the two getting on for once really was a rarity.  
I was just reading over the song lyrics I had wrote when Pizzazz suddenly burst through the door. She was breathless and looked a bit of a hot mess.  
"You'll never guess what!" Pizzazz screeched.

"What happened?" I asked, momentarily glancing up from my music sheets.  
"The Stingers are coming to town!" Pizzazz squealed, dancing on the spot like a small child.  
"The Stingers?" Roxy rolled her eyes and the three of us groaned in unison.  
The Stingers are a rock and roll group, just like us. In fact, they were discovered right here in our city when they performed at a local club, Le Klub Kool. They were a huge hit, as they had a unique sound and a certain aura about them. Jerrica Benton and Eric Raymond both fought relentlessly to sign them to their record label, and, a rare first, Eric actually succeeded! Roxy, Jetta and I weren't too pleased about this. Eric was completely forgetting about us! We were the ones bringing in his revenue and now he was neglecting us for The Stingers. He even renamed Misfits Music to Stingers Sound! The nerve!  
There was one person who wasn't bothered by this change, however. Pizzazz. Surprisingly to us all, Pizzazz fell head over heels for the lead singer, Riot. The rest of us Misfits were completely clueless to what she saw in him, as he only proceeded to disregard or use her.  
I've known Pizzazz since I was 14 and I had never, ever seen her have a crush on anybody. She wouldn't even give males a passing glance!  
This is why we Misfits found it so bizarre that she was suddenly so lovesick over this Riot.  
To begin with, we saw a lot of The Stingers, as Eric was managing both of us and we sometimes had concerts at the same venues, or we would bump into each other at rehearsals. The Stingers and The Misfits never really got on well together, minus Pizzazz's fawning over Riot. Fellow band member Rapture was a deceptive woman who played with people's minds and Minx was a no good backstabber. You'd think Roxy and Jetta would be enticed by this but The Stingers hated us and the feeling was soon mutual.  
This arrangement soon came to an end though. The Stingers became so popular that a very famous record label signed them, taking them off Eric's hands. Now they tour all over the world and we never really saw them again.  
Until now, it seems.  
"We have to meet them again!" Pizzazz cried out. "I need to see RIOT!"  
"Are you having a laugh?" Jetta responded. "No way. The sooner you realise Riot has no interest in you, the better".  
Well, if that didn't infuriate Pizzazz, nothing would!  
"JETTAAAAAAAAAA!" screamed Pizzazz. "He is mine and one day you'll realise it!"  
"Get a grip, Pizzazz" sighed Roxy "It's never going to happen!".  
"I don't know why I expected you two to have my back" Pizzazz muttered "but I know somebody who will. Right, Stormer? You'll come and help me meet The Stingers?"  
Nothing like putting you in awkward situation. Thanks, Pizzazz.  
"Look, Pizzazz, I..." my voice drifted off. "I just don't think it's really appropriate, besides, we have a concert tonight, we don't have time to stalk out rock groups" I said quickly, trying to diffuse the situation before a Pizzazz bomb exploded in the rehearsal room.  
"UGH!" she screamed loudly. "I'll get what I want. After tonight's concert, I will go in search of The Stingers. I will track down Riot. I will!" she insisted defiantly.  
Roxy, Jetta and I all gave each other a look, of despair and embarrassment.

Pizzazz was in a total mood for the rest of rehearsals. In a way, this worked to our advantage as it meant her voice was even angrier and louder than usual, which was perfect for the songs I had wrote. One of them was a song from our newest album we had never performed live before, called Crush You Down.

Crush You Down

It doesn't matter what you say  
It doesn't matter what you believe  
All that matters is that you concede

We are the hottest group in town  
And I'm gonna CRUSH! YOU! DOWN!  
I am the greatest of them all  
I can predict your downfall  
Because I'm gonna CRUSH! YOU! DOWN!

People say with some hard work you'll make it  
What they don't know is that you're more likely to break it  
You can try to resist, but you can't dismiss...that I will CRUSH! YOU! DOWN!

We are the hottest group in town  
And I'm gonna CRUSH! YOU! DOWN!  
I am the greatest of them all  
I can predict your downfall  
Because I'm gonna CRUSH! YOU! DOWN!

Pizzazz really put her all into the screaming parts, even more than usual. I hoped the walls really were soundproofed or we would literally get crushed down by the public!  
"I'm calling a break!" yelled Roxy from the other side of the room. "I need food". She then strutted out of the room and headed outside to a local fast food joint. I hoped she knew what she wanted before ordering, because she hadn't dragged me with her. Roxy is illiterate and she's pretty adamant about never learning to read either. She did try reading a learner book Ba Nee gave her once but she soon gave up, insisting she didn't need to know how to read to be a rock star. Anyway, menus are impossible for her so I'm usually asked to assist. It's a shame she didn't stick with learning to read, because she can't sail through life without such a vital skill. I'm not always there to help her!  
While Roxy was out getting food, Pizzazz stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. "I can't believe she's going all crazy over Riot again" I sighed.  
"You and me both" agreed Jetta, who was currently sitting on a table while running her fingers down her saxophone. "Riot is bad news, real bad news".  
"What do we do?" I asked. "Do we stop her from going out after the concert?"  
"I don't know" admitted Jetta. "If we try and stop her, she will probably get in a massive strop".  
"And if we don't, The Misfits will get even more bad press than usual and be ridiculed by all the public". I finished.  
"Nothing worse than a Catch 22 situation" Jetta lamented.  
"Tell me about it" I groaned in frustration.

A few hours later, after some more rehearsal time, death stares and awkward conversations, it was finally time to set up for the concert.  
We all came into the concert hall looking a bit like a travelling circus. Roxy was wearing her electric guitar round her neck thanks to the strap and dragging an amplifier beside her. She was also trying to carry a microphone stand. Jetta was carrying her black saxophone in a large, bulky case which she kept "accidentally" whacking Roxy with every step she took. She, too, was dragging a microphone stand. Are you wondering about me? I was carrying my trusty yellow keytar in my right hand, while trying to carry two microphone stands in my left hand. Why was I carrying two? Well, that's simple. Pizzazz was still in a major mood and was barely talking to any of us, meaning I was forced to carry her equipment as well as mine. So while Jetta, Roxy and myself were loaded down with equipment, Pizzazz sauntered in empty handed.  
"Jetta, if you hit me with your saxophone case ONE more time, you're in for it..." Roxy seethed.  
"Oh, my bad, _darling_ " Jetta said in an exaggerated sarcastic tone of voice.  
By this point, we had finally reached the stage and we began to unload all our instruments and equipment off ourselves. As Roxy and I arranged the microphone stands on stage, Jetta suddenly came to a realisation.  
"Guys, we don't have the microphones!" she said, stating what was now quite obvious.  
"Pizzazz, can you please go grab the microphones from the rehearsal room?" I asked. The rehearsal room was only down the hallway from the concert hall so it wasn't exactly far to go.  
A resounding silence came from Pizzazz.  
"PIZZAZZ!" Roxy screamed at the top of her lungs.  
Still paying no attention, Roxy clashed a pair of cymbals together, creating a defeating noise.

Wait, we didn't have any cymbals...

The Misfits turned round to witness the unexpected arrival of our groupie, Clash.  
"Surprise, surprise, guys!" Clash laughed. "Aren't you glad to see me?"  
"Not particularly, no" Jetta whispered under her breath.  
"What are you doing here?" Roxy said in a disgusted tone of voice.  
"Pfft, why wouldn't I be here! I had to come and see my favourite girls perform tonight" Clash revelled.  
"Great..." I spoke quietly.  
I've never really been a fan of Clash. She follows us Misfits everywhere, she's persistent and usually very irritating. I think this is one of the few things all of us Misfits can agree on - none of us want Clash around.  
Don't get me wrong, I do feel a little sorry for her. The fact she devotes her life to following us around and desperately trying to be one of us is actually really tragic. She doesn't do herself any favours though, by being so rude towards everybody, especially Video, and Video is her own cousin!

"What's up with you Pizzazz, aren't you glad to see me?" inquired Clash.  
"She's currently perfecting the art of mutism" Jetta remarked.  
"What?" You could actually see Clash's eyes glazing over as she tried to comprehend what had just been said. Clash isn't one of the brightest people I know.  
"She's not talking to us right now" I explained.  
"Why?" Clash wanted to know.  
"The Stingers are back in town and she's gone all soft over Riot again" Roxy rolled her eyes. "She wanted us all to help her stalk out Riot but we aren't THAT delusional".  
"Oh, really?" said Clash. As far as I know, she had only really met The Stingers once. The Misfits had gone to the beach, and who was in tow? Clash, of course. The Stingers soon turned up as well, so Pizzazz was enamoured by Riot. So when Jem and the Holograms also arrived, absolute chaos ensued. Riot has a bit of a thing for Jem, meaning Pizzazz got jealous of her. The next thing we knew, Pizzazz was chasing Jem all over the beach, screaming at her to get "Outta my way!" while she pursued Riot. People were being pushed over and food was flying everywhere. It was absolute pandemonium and the rest of us Misfits, Holograms and Stingers were all caught up in this mess. I'm not too sure what Clash made of The Stingers, but I know she found Pizzazz's goose chase with Jem hilarious.

"I can come with you Pizzazz! Let's stalk out The Stingers together!" Clash spoke gleefully.  
Pizzazz would usually want nothing to do with Clash, but somebody was finally offering exactly what she wanted, and she couldn't resist. Well, that, and she wouldn't dare miss any opportunity to spite us.  
"You serious, Clash?" questioned Pizzazz, finally breaking her silence.  
"Totally legit" Clash confirmed.  
"Great. Then, tonight, after our concert, meet me backstage and we can head out" Pizzazz smiled sinisterly.  
"You got it ,dude" winked Clash.  
"Oh, and one more thing, Clash" mused Pizzazz.  
"Yeah?" Clash answered eagerly.  
"Go and get our microphones from the rehearsal room".

About an hour later, our concert was due to begin. People were beginning to arrive in their droves, chatting excitedly as they headed to their seats. This is when the nerves started to hit me. I love performing but I'm not the most confident of people, and stage fright has nearly got the better of me several times. You'd think the more you perform, the easier it would get, but that doesn't prove true for me.

While I paced up and down nervously backstage, the other girls were more than ready. Even Pizzazz was in a better mood now, as well as being more vocal towards us.  
"Come on Storms, snap out of it. We're about to go on!" Jetta said.  
I took a deep breath, just as the stage announcers voice boomed over the microphone.  
"Ladies and gentleman, I present to you... The Misfits!"  
The curtains flew open and the four of us strutted on stage, with Roxy, Jetta and I waving to the crowd. Pizzazz strode forward and grabbed a microphone off the central microphone stand.  
"ARE YOU READY TO ROCK?" She yelled.  
The audience responded with some extremely vocal "YEAH'S!".  
"I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" Pizzazz teased to the crowd.  
"YEAH!" Exclaimed the audience in unison even more deafeningly than before.  
"LET'S HIT IT!" Pizzazz yelled back to a reception of cheers.  
We started with the song Crush You Down.  
"It doesn't matter what you say  
It doesn't matter what you believe  
All that matters is that you concede" sang Pizzazz in a loud, deep voice.  
She had barely made her way through the second verse when I started to hear odd noises. It sounded like instruments playing, but they weren't our own.  
I thought maybe I was just hearing things so I attempted to ignore my subconscious mind and carried on playing.  
A few seconds later though, I started to hear voices too. It seemed like the voices were coming from backstage, although I knew nobody was backstage, or at least, there shouldn't have been.  
I looked at Roxy, who exchanged a worried glance. This confirmed that it wasn't just me hearing things.  
The instruments and voices seem to be continually becoming louder and more prominent, and I didn't have a clue what to do.  
Pizzazz and Jetta seemed completely oblivious to what was going on. I suppose Roxy and I heard it because we were standing further back on the stage.

Suddenly, Roxy and I was pushed forward sharply by an unknown force behind us. I managed to steady myself by grabbing onto my microphone stand just in time, but Roxy wasn't so lucky and she clattered directly to the floor.  
"Ok, what is going on!" I heard her yell furiously, but she was drowned out by the voices behind us, which were now closer than ever. In fact, it was the people behind the voices who pushed us, and they were now coming onto the stage!  
It was three people, two female and one male...it didn't take us long to realise who they were.  
The Stingers.  
"Ladies and gentleman, it's who you REALLY came to see...introducing, THE STINGERS!" Riot boomed through the microphone he yanked from Roxy's microphone stand.  
Minx and Rapture were playing their synthesiser and electric guitars, the volume still increasing from how Roxy and I heard it just minutes ago.  
The audience were cheering and clapping even harder now, probably believing The Stingers intrusion was part of our act!  
By this point Pizzazz and Jetta had realised what was going and had stopped singing and playing. Pizzazz turned round to face The Stingers.  
"Riot! Oh, what a lovely surprise!" she gushed.  
"Are you out of your _MIND_ , Yank?" Jetta yelled at Pizzazz in full fury. "They've just sabotaged our bloody concert, and you're _STILL_ getting all loved up over this bleach blonde piece of rubbish?"  
"I can't believe you, Pizzazz!" Roxy was completely riled up now. "As for you losers" she said, facing towards The Stingers, "How do you even have the nerve to break into our concert? Shove off!"  
These comments just make The Stingers fall into absolute hysterics.  
"Did you see the looks on the silly American's faces? Priceless!" laughed Minx uncontrollably to Rapture.  
"Never mind those, how about Little Miss Britrock?" giggled Rapture. "I mean 'bleach blonde rubbish', get real!" she said, doing a bad impersonation of Jetta's British accent.  
"Why, I ought to-" Jetta screamed infuriated, grabbing onto Rapture's shoulders with brute force.  
"Ladies, please!" Riot called out. Jetta immediately let go and both Jetta and Rapture looked towards Riot.  
"Stop your fighting at once, and by serenaded by my wondrous voice" he alluded.  
"Give it a rest, will ya?" Roxy spoke angrily.  
"This is our concert, and WE'RE performing!" I said with such ferocity and conviction that I surprised even myself.  
"Well, we will see about that" chuckled Riot, and he burst into song.  
"Sting, sting, Stingers!" chanted Minx and Rapture.  
"We'll sting you with our sound!" sang Riot.  
"Come on Pizzazz, we need to fight back!" I urged her, as they carried on singing.  
"Start singing Revenge of the Sins and throw him off track!" demanded Roxy.  
"And stop hearing his beautiful voice?" Pizzazz barely even contemplated our suggestions. "Unlikely".  
"Pizzazz, you really are unbelievable" Jetta snapped. "Times like this make me wonder, are you even a Misfit anymore?".  
"Stop judging her!" came a high pitched yell from the front row.  
Us Misfits looked to see Clash now running up towards the stage.  
"It's so wrong how you all judge Pizzazz like that" she grovelled. "She can do whatever she wants!"  
"Oh, put a sock in it Clash, will you?" sighed Jetta frustratingly. "Why are you even getting involved?"  
"You're only making the situation worse, if that's even possible" I said, starting to lose my cool myself.  
"Don't tell me what to do, Stormer!" Clash suddenly burst out, shoving me unexpectedly.  
"Hey, don't go harassing Stormer, she didn't even do anything!" Roxy surprisingly took my side for once, and she defiantly pushed Clash back.  
"Ah, American's and their fighting culture, it never gets old!" Minx remarked smugly.  
"Keep your mouth shut!" Jetta shouted, slapping Minx.  
Meanwhile, Pizzazz roared at Roxy to get her hands off Clash. She then punched Roxy. I think she was aiming for her face, but she moved and ended up punching her arm instead.  
That shocked us all, including the audience, and before we knew it, a huge riot had broken out between the Misfits and The Stingers. I slipped through the chaos and ran backstage to safety. I had never been so terrified before. I know The Misfits can be unpredictable, but this really was something else.  
To be fair, they hadn't actually instigated this. The Stingers and Clash were entirely to blame for starting this commotion.

Finally, I started to become reassured when some burly security men ran past me and onto the stage to break up the commotion. I was really worried about the other girls. We may not have the best of friendships, but I couldn't bear to see them get hurt.  
I was also feeling infuriated towards The Stingers. I wasn't sure what possessed them to ruin our concert (probably one of Rapture's "visions") but they needlessly ruined an important night for us, all in the name of publicity. Even then, the publicity came at a price of us all getting injured.

The evening taught me that some people severely lack respect.

Basically, I'll sum up what happened towards the end. The security guards broke up the fights and all of us Misfits were sent home in separate taxi's (so more fights didn't break out). The Stingers and Clash were held for police questioning but the police let them go free without punishment. Meanwhile, I've spent the whole of this morning being holed up in my bedroom, because the press have been banging on my door all morning, wanting to hear about this latest scandal. Well, they will be waiting a long time because I am not opening the door to anyone.

Still, it hasn't stopped the media creating headlines about us. When I turned on the news this morning, we were the headline news story. Footage captured by somebody in the audience of everybody brawling was uploaded to YouTube and it's already gone viral. You barely see me in it, thankfully, because I went backstage quickly. Still, I dread to think what everybody is thinking of us right now. Especially my family. My brother Craig lives in England currently, as he is part of a British band and I doubt he has seen the news yet, due to time zone differences. When he does though, I know he is not going to be happy.  
I also dread to hear what Eric thinks. We are going to be in so much trouble...

Right now though, all I want to do is get away from all this stress and chaos, and pretend like nothing is happening.

Until a (hopefully more relaxing) time,  
Stormer. 


	4. Chapter 4

It has been just over a week since the whole concert situation, and thankfully the media has calmed right down. Things are rapidly going back to normal, which I am extremely thankful about.  
Eric was livid about what happened and he forced The Misfits to issue a public apology. It was his attempt to restore some dignity back to us, and surprisingly, it does seemed to have worked.  
Eric arranged for us to go on the Lin-Z show, as well as Harriet Horn's show for us to broadcast our apology.  
Our apology essentially went like this:  
Pizzazz: Hello everybody, we are The Misfits. I'm Pizzazz.  
Jetta: I'm Jetta.  
Roxy: I'm Roxy.  
Me: And I'm Stormer.  
Jetta: You have likely heard about an incident at our latest concert which resulted in a fight between The Misfits and The Stingers.  
Me: We apologise profusely for what happened.  
Roxy: We hope you can forgive us.  
Pizzazz: We promise it'll never happen again.

I personally thought it didn't sound very believable, it was staged after all. Eric had written up a script of what he wanted us to say. It was probably a wise idea, because you never know what'll come out of some people's mouths, especially Pizzazz's. Still, the public seemed satisfied with it so that was good enough for Eric, and us.

Pizzazz finally seems to be coming to her senses too. When we all met up just before recording our public apology, Pizzazz, shockingly, apologised.  
"I'm...sorry" she said, leaving a large, uncertain pause between words. "I shouldn't have let a man get between us".  
"A bit too late for that" murmured Roxy. "I forgive you though, as long as you don't cause another fight. I still have that bruise on my arm" she grumbled.  
"My bad" Pizzazz said in a rather sincere tone of voice for her.  
"On the plus side, I don't think we will be hearing from Clash for a while" Jetta smirked.  
Although the police had let Clash go after questioning, Eric was less than impressed with her. He got a restraining order between Clash and The Misfits, so she can't come within 100ft of us.  
We all giggled a bit guiltily when Jetta said that.

My parents never made any comment on what happened actually, but Craig did text me. He was outraged by the fracas, although he wasn't mad at me. One of his texts especially hit me hard.

"Please Mary, please genuinely consider leaving The Misfits. You are worthy of so much more than them. Your potential is being wasted!"

I ended up not responding to his text. It's not as simple as he thinks, unfortunately.

Anyway, focusing on current events. It's my birthday in two days time and for once, I'm not actually working. After all this concert business, I just want to have a relaxing day at home. It would be nice to have somebody to share this day with, though. At home it's just me and my cat Mollie, and as much as I love her, I would like some actual human interaction too.  
Who could I ask to spend the day with though?  
Craig is in England, so I couldn't exactly ask him.  
I wasn't going to ask Pizzazz or Roxy either. I see enough of them at work and we aren't really close outside of that.  
I did briefly consider asking Jetta, as I do tend to get on better with her, but I soon dismissed this idea. I'm not sure how long I could endure culture bashing for!  
I picked up my phone and started scrolling through my contacts, thinking about who I could ask. My parents? Perhaps not, besides, they live an hour or so away so it would be a way to drive. Alice? Not likely, we haven't spoken or seen each other in years. That's when I suddenly had an epiphany. Kimber! We had barely spoken since the time we became a duo but I have missed her ever since. Yes, I'll ask Kimber!

But then I stopped.

What if she doesn't feel the same way about me? We had a great bond while we were a duo, but that was a year or two ago. She could probably care less about me now.  
I then remembered the whole Roxy and Ashley incident from a few weeks ago. Jerrica had said that she was sure Kimber would like to see me. She must still be interested in me, right? Or maybe Jerrica was just being kind, she could hardly say that Kimber had no desire to see me again.  
It looked like the only way I was going to find out was if I swallowed my pride and asked her.

I dialled her number and let the phone ring. A few seconds later, I got a response.  
"Hello?"  
"Hi Kimber, it's Stormer."  
"No way! We haven't spoken in ages."  
"I know" I said, feeling relieved she still seemed interested in me. "I've missed you since the duo days."  
"Same here! I was always worried about contacting you, in case you got in trouble with the other Misfits."  
"Oh, Kimber. That's so nice of you but really, don't let them stop you. I can handle it."  
"I saw you on the news the other day. Are you ok? That fight looked scary. Even all the Holograms were worried about you."  
"I'm fine, thank you. It was a bit scary at the time but I slipped away backstage and missed the worst of it. For once, it wasn't really the other Misfits fault, The Stingers and Clash started it. I just want to forget about it now though. Tell the girls I said thanks for their concern"  
"That's understandable, and yeah, I'll tell them. So...why did you ring me?"  
"Well, it's my birthday in two days. I was just planning on having a relaxing day at home after all the recent commotion, but I really wanted somebody to spend it with..."  
"You're asking me?"  
"Yes."  
"Will the other Misfits be there?"  
"Definitely not. It'll just be you and me."  
"You know...I'd love that. I really would."  
"Great! You can come round about 10am?"  
"Sounds fine with me. See you there!"  
"Later, Kimber!"

Yes! She still liked me, and I was actually going to have an enjoyable birthday this year to mark my 21st. My life is getting back on track again!

Until my 21st,  
Stormer.


End file.
